Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown chats with Patricia Riddell-Laemers, executive director of the Early Learning Centre, and Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek after a visit Tuesday, July 11 to the centre in St. Thomas. (DEREK RUTTAN, The London Free Press)

Even with election talk looming and campaign messages emerging, Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown isn’t ready to commit to continuing a high-speed rail project that would link London to Toronto if his party wins next year.

“I do think (high-speed rail) is valuable, I do think it’s a worthy goal and under this Liberal government it will never happen,” Brown said Tuesday at a campaign-style stop in St. Thomas.

“What I will commit to is making sure that we actually get shovels in the ground, that we spend our infrastructure dollars wisely. . . . What I promise you is that we’ll get better value for infrastructure.”

After a separate announcement pledging better access to autism services for children, Brown stopped short of promising to stay the course on the Liberals’ high-speed rail plan announced in May.

The government is beginning early design work for the estimated $20-billion high-speed rail line between Windsor and Toronto and is spending $15 million on an environmental assessment.

Under the Liberals’ plan, the first high-speed rail line between London and Toronto would be running by 2025. The London-to-Windsor connection would follow by 2031.

But the surprise spring announcement is hitting a sour note with Brown, who said the Liberals are only raising the high-speed rail discussion to attract votes.

“They’re using it as a re-election tool, they’re using it as a photo op. . . . The last election, the Liberals promised a study on high-speed rail. It didn’t happen and now they’re doing it again,” he said.

“If you re-elect the Liberals, you’ll be talking about it for another 20 years.”

Brown, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Premier Kathleen Wynne are touring the province this summer as parties prepare for the election, scheduled for June 7, 2018.

Brown pointed to the Grits’ mismanagement of the infrastructure portfolio as a major barrier to big-ticket projects like high-speed rail.

“Maybe if we weren’t . . . repaving the 403 every two years instead of every 15 years we would have funding available for great projects like high-speed rail,” he said.

“We need to have proper funding of infrastructure, we need to have value for money.”

Under the Liberal government’s plan, the high-speed trains would travel up to 250 km/h, cutting the roughly four-hour commute from Windsor to Toronto in half. Proposed stops along the route include Chatham, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph and Pearson International Airport, the country’s busiest aviation hub.

The project is touted by the Liberals as a major economic booster for southern Ontario.

With seven million people living in the Windsor-to-Toronto corridor, and 50 per cent of Ontario’s GDP tied up in the area, Deputy Premier Deb Matthews said moving on high-speed rail is a priority for her party.

“It’s a complete game-changer. . . . It just opens up a whole new world of opportunities, it’s a fantastic boost for London and beyond.”

Responding to the PC’s criticism the high-speed rail announcement is just a vote-grabbing ploy, Matthews said it’s a multibillion-dollar build that takes time to plan properly.

“It’s important that we do it right. I would hope that Patrick Brown would appreciate that, when you take on a project of this size, you have to really invest in the planning,” she said.

Even with an election less than a year away, Matthews is firmly committed to making the Liberals’ high-speed rail happen plan — but she’s disappointed the opposition isn’t fully on board.

“Patrick Brown isn’t even saying he’s committed to it,” she said.

“He’s being very wishy-washy on it. He’s criticizing us but he’s not taking a position.”

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